Bowers Gang

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Contents

Nature

The Bowers Gang prominently acts to humiliate and bully kids in the town of Derry. Originally, the gang had a code by which they simply attacked kids and left adults alone. However, as the summer holidays progressed and Henry's sanity worsened, they went after adults too, in one case, Henry threw a rock at an old lady's car when she stopped to help Beverly. The Bowers Gang is also quite perverted and Henry sometimes indicates he wants to rape Beverly.

Most of their actions are driven out of pure spite, for instance, Henry picks on Mike just because Mike is black. Henry is the leader of the gang, while Vic Criss is the second-in-command (secondary leader) and Belch Huggins is the muscle, being bigger than the others at six feet tall (despite being 12 years old). Patrick Hockstetter is the most evil and psychopathic of the gang. Peter Gordon is most likely the most intelligent of the gang after Vic and is mentioned as a kid who likes to act tough but really isn't brave enough to try anything on his own. Moose Sadler and Gard Jagermeyer represent the gang's least intelligent members, Moose being half-retarded and Gard just being plain dumb. It is debatable whether Marcia Fadden is a member of the Gang, she does have an affinity for Henry Bowers and Peter Gordon and for being mean to kids younger than her, but she is much too cowardly to do anything by herself without Peter to protect her. She only appears once or twice in connection to Peter but it is presumed she is a member of the Gang because of her provocative nature and the fact she is Peter's girlfriend.

It (1990)

As in the novel, Henry and the Bowers Gang are portrayed as the local bullies and antagonistic classmates of the Losers' Club, though only Patrick Hockstetter and Gard Jagermeyer are absent from this adaptation and Peter Gordon and Steve "Moose" Sadler are only seen minorly. Here (most likely being that this version takes place in 1960), the Bowers Gang are given more greaser-type appearances than in the novel, as they are all seen wearing jackets, and the smarter bullies of the gang (Victor "Vic" Criss and Peter Gordon) are shown to be more unscrupulous, the one exception being when Henry tries to carve his name on Ben Hanscom with a switchblade and Vic tries to object by commenting "Come on. Don't really cut him". Additionally, Vic and Belch's deaths in the miniseries differ well from the novel as rather than killing them in the form of Frankenstein's Monster, "It" kills them in the form of the "Deadlights", first killing off Vic, who had separated to ambush the Losers per Henry's instructions, and later Belch when he was holding Stan Uris when Henry was preparing to kill him, only for Belch to be sucked through a pipe by the Deadlights and eaten.

It (2017)

Henry Bowers and his gang again appear as antagonists to the Losers' Club. This time, Peter Gordon, Moose Sadler, and Gard Jagermeyer are absent from this adaptation and (contrary to both the novel and miniseries), rather than being the same age as the Losers, the Bowers Gang are portrayed as older teenagers. Reginald "Belch" Huggins is also be portrayed somewhat differently than the novel and miniseries. While still being the most physically strong yet clumsy bully of the group, he is more stockily-built and more average in height, being dwarfed by the taller Patrick Hockstetter (both facts being contrary to Belch's earlier depictions of being bigger and taller than the rest of his friends, standing six feet tall, though no older than any of them).

Incidents with the Losers

Henry ambushes Ben Hanscom outside Derry library with his minions Victor and Belch Huggins, and he threatens to carve his own name into Ben's fat stomach. When Vic and Belch protest in alarm, Henry does so anyway but only gets to H before Ben kicks him in the gut and Ben goes tumbling downhill into the Barrens.

When on a date with his girlfriend Marcia Fadden, Peter Gordon insults Richie and Beverly. When Beverly tells them to piss off, Marcia gets all cowardly and Peter protects her by telling Richie he'll come to beat him up later. After their date, Peter and Marcia tell Henry how the Losers "bullied" them and thus Henry comes after Richie, Beverly and Ben, almost beating up Ben, but Henry fails.

One time, Richie got chased through the whole of Derry town by Henry, Vic and Belch, through a fit of Henry's madness.

Henry got sent a pocket knife from IT at this time. His sanity worsened and Vic actually approached the Losers, asking to defect, and warning them of Henry's insanity.

Henry attacked Mike when surrounded by all six boys of his gang, including a reluctant Peter Gordon. He chases Mike down to the Barrens and tells him he killed Mike's dog. Mike finds the Losers, joins them, and a Rock Fight begins, with Peter being the first to flee after throwing only one or two rocks. Gard also flees afterwards. Patrick and Vic then flee afterwards and so do Moose and Belch. The Losers humiliate Henry and order him to flee.

Henry, Patrick, Vic and Belch are witnessed in the Barrens' rubbish dump by Beverly, who first mistakes them for the Losers, but realizes its the Bowers Gang. Beverly sees them light their farts on fire and laugh at the result. When Vic says he has to go for work, Henry spits in contempt. Patrick then tries to perform oral sex on Henry, which leaves Henry disgusted, and Henry threatens to kill Patrick if he does it again. He also says he'll tell police of Patrick's slain animals in the refrigerator. Beverly then watches in alarm as Patrick opens the fridge, and is then eaten to death by IT in the form of a pack of flying leeches.

Henry then ambushes Beverly and tries to rape her. He is accompanied as usual by Vic and Belch, who are unaware Henry was brainwashed by IT the night before. Henry has also just killed his father. He ambushes Beverly and almost succeeds in raping her but Beverly yells at an old lady to stop Henry. When the woman is about to do so Henry throws a rock at her car and tells her to get the Hell out. She drives off frightened and Beverly knees Henry in the balls to defend herself and flees to the Barrens.

Now embittered, Henry chases the Losers into the Barrens, where he follows them into the sewers. In the sewers under Derry, IT attacks, killing Vic and Belch, and leaving Henry traumatized and prematurely ages him. Henry is the only survivor of the Bowers Gang, unless you count Peter, Moose and Gard, who may or may not have survived.

Members

Trivia

Because of her romance with Peter Gordon, Marcia Fadden is sometimes considered a member of the Bowers Gang, at least in the novel anyway.

Peter Gordon, Vic and Belch were perhaps the most humane of the Gang and the only ones closest to redeeming themselves.

In fact in the novel, it is suggested if Belch had lived until he was an adult, he may have actually learned to be gentler.

Henry seems to bind the gang together through manipulation, fear and brutality, even though its mentioned that Vic and Belch really are his best friends, the others only seem to hang about with him through fear of his brutality.